Arabs sceptical, disappointed after Obama's speech

May 20, 2011, 9:13 GMT

Cairo - Many Arabs expressed their disappointment and scepticism on Friday towards US President Barack Obama's speech on uprisings sweeping the Middle East region.

On social networking websites, some people compared Thursday's address to speeches given by Arab leaders during uprisings in their countries in a bid to quell protests against them.

'Dear Obama: You know who else gives speeches that don't reflect reality?' wrote Remi Kanazi on his page, answering by listing the names of the ousted Tunisian and Egyptian presidents, as well as the embattled leaders of Syria, Yemen and Libya.

Obama was also criticized on his 'soft stance' regarding Bahrain, where hundreds of pro-democracy activists have been arrested.

'Mr Obama, you should know that dialogue was on the table for two months with no strings attached, opposition refused,' another online activist wrote.

However, the Bahraini cabinet welcomed the speech 'that included visions and principles that agree with the democratic strategy adopted by Bahrain.'

The government 'led by Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa exerts all efforts to push forward the national project in the direction of more democracy, reform, modernization and development,' the cabinet said.

Bahrain also welcomed Obama's 'peaceful solution with regard to Palestine and hoped that the United States would take speedy steps to reach practical actions that would reflect positively on the peace process in the Middle East.'

The editor of the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat, Ghassan Charbel, thought that 'nothing about the speech was not predictable.'

'As for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, repeating the general principles did not hide the fact that Obama has failed to achieve a breakthrough in this essential file,' Charbel added.

The US president was criticised for not addressing key issues central to the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, including the status of Jerusalem and the right of Palestinian refugees to return to Israel, despite calling for a solution based on 1967 borders.

'So, he will not address Jerusalem now. What about Jaffa, and Hebron, and the West Bank?' Egyptian activist Mai Saad queried in remarks to the German Press Agency dpa.

'And you swap lands when you own something. Where will the Palestinian refugees stay when they return?'

Saad also believes that Obama's 'soft stance on violations in Syria and Bahrain was provocative' to people in the region.

Regional media compared the speech to the landmark 2009 address by Obama at Cairo's university, in which he promised support for democracy in the Arab world.

Thursday's speech showed that 'Obama was trying to present a policy that can cope with the wind that blew across the region,' Charbel said.

A senior Muslim Brotherhood member said the speech was disappointing, and there was no new US strategy.

'We are still prisoners of the unilateral US vision,' Essam al-Erian was quoted by Asharq al-Awsat newspaper as saying. 'I waited for a different speech by the US president, which can express a new strategy.'

'Let us just build our country with our efforts and our money. Do not expect anything from the Americans,' al-Erian said, referrring to Obama's 1 billion dollars pledge in debt relief for Egypt to ease the country's transition toward a more open and viable economy.

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